Clemson Football: Which Tigers will be departing following 2019 season?

Which Clemson football players won’t be with the Tigers next season? Here’s a look at the expected departure list for the Tigers.

The 2020 Clemson football team will return plenty of talented players, but like always there will certainly be some turnover.

Who will Tiger fans be watching play their final game(s) in the CFB Playoff?

Here’s a look at the Clemson football players who will be will be graduating or potentially leaving early for the NFL following this season.

Graduating:

• S Tanner Muse
• LB Chad Smith
• OL Gage Cervenka
• DB Denzel Johnson
• LS Patrick Phibbs
• TE JL Banks
• P/PK Steven Sawicki
• S K’Von Wallace
• OL Tremayne Anchrum
• OL John Simpson
• OL Sean Pollard
• WR Diondre Overton
• DB Brian Dawkins Jr.

This list of graduates is definite. We saw this group of players run down the hill for the final time a few weeks ago and they’ll all be heading to the next stage of their career, whether that be the NFL or the workforce.

Out of this group, the most notable include four starters on the offensive line, as well as the two starters at safety (K’Von Wallace and Tanner Muse) and one starter at linebacker (Chad Smith).

Likely Leaving Early for NFL

• Isaiah Simmons
• Tee Higgins
• Travis Etienne
• AJ Terrell
• Amari Rodgers

There could always be another surprise or two, but these are the Clemson football players I would peg as Tigers with legitimate opportunities to head to the NFL after this season.

Barring something unforeseen, Isaiah Simmons, Tee Higgins and Travis Etienne are definitely going to forego their final year of eligibility and head onto the NFL. As a matter of fact, all three of those guys have an opportunity to be first-round draft picks with Simmons potentially landing inside the top-10, maybe even top-5.

AJ Terrell and Amari Rodgers are probably on the fence because their draft status won’t be quite as high, but they’d certainly be drafted if they came out.

At this point, I would think that Terrell has about a 95 percent chance of leaving after this season and Rodgers has about a 65 percent chance of leaving, just depending on what he wants to accomplish.

In addition to those listed above, there will likely be a transfer or two when the offseason comes. It wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Chase Brice transfer to play his final couple of years of eligibility elsewhere. There are likely a few others that could gain more playing time at another school and may choose to test their hand with the NCAA Transfer Portal.